The following data were presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Seattle.

• Addex Pharmaceuticals, of Geneva, said Phase IIa data on ADX10059, an mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator, showed efficacy in treating acute migraine attacks and provides evidence that inhibition of that glutamate receptor subtype could play a role in stopping migraine attacks before they start. Data showed significantly more patients taking ADX10059 than those taking placebo (16.7 percent vs. 4.7 percent, respectively p = 0.039) were pain-free two hours after dosing. The compound also yielded better pain improvement than placebo at all time points up to two hours after treatment.

• Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, a division of Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, presented analyses of data from a 16-year follow-up study of Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) showing early initiation and sustained exposure to it were strongly associated with a reduced risk of a negative outcome (i.e., EDSS score greater than or equal to 6.0, wheelchair use or conversion to SPMS) after 16 years.

• Biogen Idec, of Cambridge, Mass., and Elan Corp., of Dublin, Ireland, presented results of a study showing that Tysabri (natalizumab) promoted regeneration and stabilization of damage done to the myelin sheath, as measured by advanced MRI. The imaging study, which included a total of 110 subjects, used an advanced MRI technology to measure lesions and normal brain tissue. The study showed that Tysabri promoted remyelination when compared to those receiving interferon beta-1a IM and normal controls.

• Boehringer Ingelheim Corp., of Ingelheim, Germany, said a confirmatory analysis of the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Mirapexin/Sifrol (pramipexole) in a prolonged release, once daily formulation, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease conducted at week 18 demonstrated it was superior to placebo and had a comparable efficacy to the pramipexole immediate-release formulation, at the same daily dosage. An analysis showed maintenance of efficacy after 33 weeks of treatment compared to 18 weeks of treatment in both pramipexole groups, while placebo patients worsened from week 18 to week 33. A second study assessing the efficacy and safety of an overnight switch from pramipexole immediate release to a pramipexole prolonged release at the same daily dose showed that 84.5 percent of patients were switched successfully.

• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem, and Active Biotech, of Lund Sweden, presented results from several clinical and preclinical studies on the immunomodulatory mechanism of action of laquinimod, an oral once-daily compound being developed for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Results of various studies showed that the effect of laquinimod on autoimmune deviation may be due, in part, to its impact on the dendritic cell compartment; that laquinimod is intricately involved in the inflammatory response; and that laquinimod is effective in inhibiting disease severity with or without the presence of D4+CD25+ cells, indicating the compound does not require that specific regulatory pathway.